Yesterday I had the unfortunate experience of having my transmission lock in reverse as I was backing off my mooring. Damaged a brand new 50' Hinckley power as the engine kill switch decided to stop working at the same time. I looked at other postings about repairing the MS-4 and other replacements, but most of the info. was 5+ years old. I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with this issue in the last few years; and, if so, what are the current costs and other issues?

Last edited by tomkiely on Sep 07, 2017 - 08:59 PM; edited 3 times in total

Sorry to hear this. Unfortunately I have no experience with the MS-4. Hopefully you'll get somebody who has, to read your post. It's a shame this site isn't used more.

Seahorse

Post subject: RE: MS-4 Failure Posted: Sep 05, 2017 - 07:25 PM

Joined: Aug 06, 2017
Posts: 12

Status: Offline

Hi Tom,

Sorry to hear about the transmission failure. Ive have the MS4A as well and I read many posts about them. It seems its difficult to find anyone to repair them and when you do, its expensive. There is a marine transmission shop in Topsfield MA that may be worth a try. Atlantis Transmission.. Another option would be to find a working take out w/ same gear ratio. Theres one on ebay now with the right gear ratio for $4,500. I'm not sure there is any alternative tranny that will mate to the TAMD41 and fit our hulls. Ive read the HS is a no-go.

Did your transmission give any warning signs? Leaks, noise, vibration? Did you check fluid? I check mine almost every trip just looking for discoloration, loss of fluid.. I change it annually too.

Seahorse - Thanks for your reply. There was no warning or strange noises, it just could not be moved out of reverse with the shift control. Once in neutral, it would shift into reverse but not forward. I keep a regular watch on the fluid - no obvious issues. Some years I change it twice if the hours warrant, but a minimum of once at winter lay-up.

A friend of mine told me about Atlantic, and I've had a number of other recommendations, so I'll be following up. I will pass along any worthwhile info. when it develops.

All logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners. Comments are property of their posters.
All else (c) 2007 by Edwin Kroeker.
This web site was made with
PostNuke, a web portal system written in PHP
and released under the GNU/GPL license. Other site legal stuff here.